Summary

We are introduced to a woman who is beautiful and began life with wonderful advantages and then married for love. This, apparently, was her mistake for things did not go the way they were supposed to. She resented her children although she pretended that this tiny spot in her heart did not harden when they came into the room. Although neighbors and friends lauded her motherhood, the mother and her children knew she was a sham.

The mother, the father, the two girls and the boy lived together in a very nice neighborhood with a kind of style that floated somewhat above their actual means. The father had a job, but it depended on sales and his sales never materialized. Therefore, their social position like their assets floated above their ability to pay for them and there was a constant agony...